Socket



March 27, 1962 Filed Sept. ll, 1958 L. J. HEss ETAL 3,027,537

SOCKET 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 @5544 j f j! 1 'Jl/,Ulf

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March 27, 1962 l.. J. Hr-:ss ETAL 3,027,537

SOCKET Filed Sept. ll, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ff ff @EL a INVENTORS. if

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March 27, 1962 L.. J. HEss ETAL 3,027,537

SOCKET Filed Sept. ll, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Lester Hess, Maurice E. Kennedy, and Jasper Long, eturgrs, Mieli., assignors to Wade Electric Products Co., Sturgis, Mich., a corporation of ltdichigan Filed Sept. Il, i958, Ser. No. 766,466

14 Claims. (El. 339-191) This invention relates to sockets for light bulbs and more particularly to a socket for a miniature light bulb that does not have a conventional metal base.

One of the leading electrical companies has recently eve'loped a miniature light bulb that does not have a conventional threaded metal base for screwing the bulb into a conventional socket in a manner to make electrical contact with the socket. Therefore, this light bulb may be aptly designated as a miniature baseless bulb. It is all glass and the conductors within the bulb project through one end of the bulb to enable electrical connection to be made therewith, the end of the bulb being elongated and of special configuration to facilitate the retention of the bulb within a socket.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a socket for a miniature baseless bulb.

It is another object of the invention to provide a relatively small socket for removably retaining a miniature baseless bulb with a detent action so that the bulb may be snapped into and iirmly retained within the socket, but may be removed by simply pulling on the bulb when desired.

It is a further object f the invention to provide a relatively small insulator having a pair of spaced metal contacts rmly retained therein in a manner to resilently receive and make electrical connection with a miniature baseless bulb.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a socket for a miniature baseless bulb that can have the end thereof with the light bulb projecting therefrom press-fit into a hole in a panel, such as an instrument panel of an automobile.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a socket for a miniature baseless bulb that is compact, relatively small and inexpensive, easy to manufacture and assemble, and effective in use.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a longitudinal sectional view of a socket embodying features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end View of the insulator body of the socket illustrated in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the left end of the insulator body of FIG. 3 partially broken away;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the insulator body of FIG. 3 partially broken away;

FIG. 6 is a side view partially broken away of a metal contact adapted to be inserted in the insulator body illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a plan View of the metal Contact of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 8 8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional View taken along the line 9 9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an end View of the left end of the metal contact illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. ll is a longitudinal sectional view of a socket embodying other features of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is an end view of the right end of the insulator body of the socket illustrated in FIG. ll; and

FIG. 13 is a side View partially broken away of the insulator body of the socket illustrated in FIG. ll.

Referring to FIG. l, a miniature baseless light bulb 14 is illustrated as assembled within a socket I6 embodying features of the present invention. As explained previously, the bulb is rnade entirely of glass and has lilament contact wire means I3 and Ztl projecting from the end 22 thereof to enable electrical connection to be made therewith. The special configuration of the end 22 and the manner in which electrical connection is made with the exposed conductors I8 and 2d will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

Referring to FIGS. 2-5, as well as FIG. l, the socket I6 is comprised of an insulator socket body 24 having a bore 26 extending therethrough and a center wall 28 adjacent the left end thereof, as viewed in FIG. 3, that divides the bore 26 into two sections. The insulator body may be molded of any suitable insulating material, such as a phenolic resin, for example.

Each section of the bore 26 is designed to retain contact element means Z9, and has pairs of inwardly presenting stepped shoulders 3? and 32 with a groove 34 between the shoulders 32. A groove 35 is also formed in the right end of each of the grooves 34 and terminates in a transverse shoulder 36 facing toward the right end of the insulator body, and a semicylindrical groove 37 is formed in the left end of each of the grooves 34 and terminates in a transverse shoulder 38 facing toward the left end of the insulator body. Transverse shoulders 46 and 42 are also formed on opposite sides of the center wall 213 and are centrally located on the center wall 23 facing toward the left end of the insulator body, as viewed in FIG. 3. Wing receiving groove means 41, 43 are provided between the center wall 28 and the shoulders Sii. It will be noted that this insulator (as is the one of FIG. ll) is of such design that it can be easily molded in a simple mold having axially extending core pins.

As most clearly illustrated in FIGS. 6-10, each of the metal contact elements 29 is comprised of a generally channel shaped elongated body 44 having a substantially U-shaped cross section. Each contact element is provided with resilient contact arms formed by a first pair of transverse wings 46 projecting outwardly from each of the legs 43 (side walls) of the body i4 at the right end thereof as viewed in FIGS. 6 and 7. The wings have curved outer surfaces extending longitudinally of the bore 26 and forming a projection which extends inwardly toward the center of the bore. Notches 5i) are formed in the portions of the legs 43 adjacent to the transverse wings 46, and a second pair of transverse wings 52 extend outwardly from a raised portion 54 of each of the legs 4S intermediate the ends thereof.

A tab 56 is punched out of the web portion of the body 44 between the legs 48 adjacent the right end thereof, and the left end 60 of the body 44 is formed into a narrower deeper U-shaped section with the legs thereof projecting above the transverse wings 52 and the portion of the body therebetween projecting beneath the remainder of the body. This particular configuration of the left end 60 enables the ends of conductors 62 and 63, as illustrated in FIG. l, to be firmly and electrically fixed thereto as by crimping of arms 6i) on the conductor and spot welding of the bared end of the conductor to the flat surface between wings 52. Each of the metal contacts 29 may be readily formed by suitable dies from a flat die-cut sheet, each side of which has the configuration illustrated in dotted-dash lines on the upper side of FIG. 7.

With this construction each of the metal contacts 29 may be inserted into the insulator body 24 from the left end thereof, as viewed in FIG. l, with the transverse wings 46 and 4S of each Contact facing toward each other.

Each metal contact 29 can be pushed through the insulator body 26 to the right until the upwardly projecting legs on the left end 6i? thereof engage the transverse shoulders 4t) and 42 on the center wall 2S. At this point the resilient tab 56 of each metal contact snaps over one of the transverse shoulders 36 to prevent the withdrawal of the metal contacts from the insulator body.

To insure that each of the metal contacts is firmly wedged in the insulator body against movement relative thereto, contact element retaining means are provided which are operable upon insertion of the wings 5'2 within the groove means defined by the shoulders 3@ and the adjacent side surfaces of the center wall 2S. The contact element retaining means are in the form of wedging means operable within the groove means as the wings 52 are inserted therein. The wedging means comprises a pair of transversely spaced longitudinally extending ridges 64 provided within the groove means on each side of the center wall 28, as most clearly illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Each of the ridges begins at a point intermediate the ends of the center wall 2S, in a tapered portion, as viewed in FlG. 3, and extends toward the right end of the center wall.

As most clearly illustrated in FIG. l, each pair of the ridges 64 are engaged by the transverse wings 52 on the metal contacts as the contacts are pushed through the insulator body toward the right end thereof. lt will be apparent that the outer edges of the transverse wings 52 lirst engage the tapered end portions of the ridges 66 and ride up onto the ridges as the metal contacts are pushed completely into the insulator body 24. Consequently, in their final position the wings 52 are flexed by the ridges 64 so as to resiliently urge each of the contacts 29 radially outwardly to press the left ends thereof tightly against the semicylindrical grooves 37 and the resilient tabs 56 against the grooves 35. This eliminates any transverse or longitudinal play of the contacts within the insulator body 24. In a contact element design wherein the conductor connecting portions 60 of the contact from the wings S2 rearward are eliminated, the wedging action may be relied on completely to secure contact within the socket body against axially directed forces thereon during insertion and removal of the bulb 14.

With the metal contacts firmly retained within the insulator body in the manner described a bulb receiving socket having a normal opening smaller than the support portion of the bulb is deiined thereby. It is apparent that the end 22 of the bulb 14 can be inserted between the spaced pairs of transverse wings 46 so as to be resiliently retained therebetween, the resiliency being provided by the flexing of the tab 56, wings 66, and the portions of the legs 43 of the metal contacts from which the wings project. With regard to the flexing of the aforementioned portions of the legs 48, it will be observed that the notches 5t) in each of the legs 48 tend to separate the portions of the legs from which the transverse wings 46 project, from the remainder of the legs to increase their flexibility.

It will be observed that the end 22 of the bulb 14 is cross-shaped with two vertically extending iianges 66, each of which fits between the transverse wings 46 of each metal contact 29, and two horizontally extending flanges 63 which lit between corresponding transverse wings of the metal contacts 29. As viewed in FIG. l, one of the horizontally extending flanges 63 is directly behind the other yso that it is not shown.

by merely pulling `on it.Y To insure a goodelectrical ccnnection with the bulb, each of the electrical conductors 16 and 26 which project from the end 22 thereof are folded back over the flanges 66 so as to overlie one of the recesses 7i?. As illustrated in FlG. l, the conductor 18 extends back over the lower side of the visible flange 63 and is firmly wedged between the outer curved surface of one of the transverse wings 46 and the notch 76 on the lower side of the shoulder. The other conductor 29 extends back over the upper side of the nonvisible transverse frange 66 and is similarly wedged between the notch 76 on the upper side thereof and the outer curved surface of the transverse wing that cooperates therewith. ln this manner the conductors i3 and 2t) are wedged bctween nonadjacent transverse wings to better balance the flexing of the metal contacts when the end 22 of the bulb is disposed therebetween, the other pair of nonadjacent transverse wings directly engaging the notches 70 adjacent thereto. The curved portions of the wing 46 nearest the bulb inlet are outwardly curved relative to the center of the socket to provide a curved approach surface for receiving and guiding the bulb into the socket.

it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that this construction provides a very small, compact socket for miniature baseless bulbs having only three separate pieces, each of which can be rapidly and inexpensively manufactured, and quickly and easily assembled.

Referring to FIGS. 1l-l3, a modification of the socket previously described is illustrated which comprises an insulator body 72 which is the same as the insulator body 2.4 with regard to the manner in which it receives the metal contacts 29, but differs in that it has a ange 74 projecting radially outwardly from the right end thereof and a cylindrical flange 76 projecting outwardly from a line spaced inwardly of the periphery of the radial flange. lt also differs from the previous socket in that it should be made of a resilient molded compound such as n3/lon. The portion of the radial flange 74 projecting beyond the cylindrical flange 76 is undercut on a taper as indicated at 78, and the cylindrical flange 76 has a plurality of spaced longitudinally extending slots Si) in the wall thereof.

With this construction, the anges 74 and 76 cooperate to enable the insulator body 72 with the bulb 14 secured therein to be mounted on a panel having a hole therein with the bulb i4 projecting through the hole. In this regard, the right end of the flange 76 is tapered inwardly as at 82 to facilitate the initial insertion of the ange within the hole, and the slots tt) permit the flange to give or yield so that it can be pushed into the hole in the panel until the flange 74 engages the surface of the panel adjacent the hole. An additional force can then be exerted on the insulator body 72 to push it further into the hole to liatten out the tapered undercut 7S, so that the flange 74 tightly seals against the surface of the panel. In this manner the socket illustrated in FIG. ll readily lends it self for use with bulbs which have to be inserted through holes in panels `on the back of the instrument panels of automobiles, for example. The insulator body is provided with a series of inwardly stepped surfaces 84, 86, 88, which extend progressively inwardly, and are connected by curved surfaces 92, 94. The innermost of the stepped surfaces terminates adjacent the forward portion of the curved outer surface of the wings 46. Thus, the insulator body cooperates with the curved wing 46 to provide a substantially continuous approach surface for guiding the bulb to the curved wings i6 and into the bulb socket.

While it will be apparent that the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects of the invention, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variations and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A metal contact for a socket for a baseless light bulb comprising: an elongated generally U-shaped metal body having side wall portions interconnected by a central web portion, a pair of transversely extending bulb contacting wings projecting outwardly from the side wall portions of said body adjacent one end thereof, a pair of transversely extending contact securing wings for retaining said body in the socket projecting outwardly from the side wall portions of said -body intermediate the ends thereof, a portion of said body adjacent said one end thereof and between the side wall portions thereof being punched outwardly to provide a lresilient tab having a shoulder on the end thereof facing toward the other end of said body for engagement with a side surface of the socket member.

2. The invention set forth in claim l wherein the side Wall portions adjacent said other end of the body are more closely spaced together and elongated to project above said transversely extending wings, the web portion between side walls at said other end of the body projecting downwardly a greater distance than the remainder of the web portion whereby said other end ofthe body is adapted to have an electrical conductor afiixed therein.

3. A socket for a baseless light bulb comprising: an insulator body having a bore extending therethrough with a center wall dividing said bore into two sections adjacent one end thereof, a pair of metal contacts, each contact being disposed within one of the sections of said bore on each side of said center wall, each of said contacts having a pair of transverse contact securing wings for retaining said contacts within said insulator body resiliently bearing against a portion of said center wall to transversely wedge and secure the contact firmly within each section of the bore, each of said contacts having a pair of transverse bulb contacting wings adjacent the other end of said bore adapted to resiliently receive and retain the baseless light bulb and make electrical contact with the end thereof when it is inserted between said pair of transverse bulb contacting wings,

4. The subject matter as defined in claim 3 wherein each of said transverse bulb contacting wings is curved longitudinally of said bore to provide detent means for co-operation with suitable recesses in the end of the light bulb when it is inserted therebetween to provide a detent action.

5. A metal contact for a socket for receiving and supporting a baseless light bulb having a support portion provided with detent means to which filament contact wire means extend from said bulb, and comprising: an elongated channel shaped metal body, a pair of transversely extending bulb contacting wings projecting outwardly from the side of the channel shaped body adjacent one end thereof, and a second pair of transversely extending contact securing wings for retaining said metal contact within said socket projecting outwardly from the side of said body and being axially spaced from said pair or transversely extending bulb contacting wings.

6. The subject matter as claimed in claim 5 wherein said pair of transversely extending bulb engaging wings are provided with longitudinally curved outer surfaces for receiving and contacting said baseless light bulb.

7. A socket assembly for supporting and electrically connecting a light bulb having a support portion provided with first detent means to which filament contact wire means extend from said bulb, and comprising: an insulator socket body having a bore extending therein, contact element means for connecting said filament contact wire means to an electrical source, groove means to retain and support said contact element means within said bore, Wing means provided on said contact element means and adapted to be received within said groove means, contact element retaining means operable upon insertion of said wing means within said groove means to secure said contact element means within said bore against forces exerted thereon, resilient contact arms connected to said contact element means and extending longitudinally of said bore, said resilient contact arms being spaced from one another' to define a bulb receiving socket having a normal opening smaller than the support portion of said bulb and being resiliently movable outwardly to accommodate said support portion of said bulb therebetween, second detent means formed on said resilient contact arms and being receivable by and co-operable with said first detent means to electrically contact said iiiament contact wire means and secure said bulb Within said bore.

8. The socket assembly as defined in claim 7 and wherein said contact element retaining means comprises wedging means operable within said groove means to provide a wedging action on said wing means to secure said contact element means within said bore.

9. The socket assembly as defined in claim 8 and wherein said wedging means comprises an outwardly extending ridge formed along said groove means and extending longitudinally of said bore, said ridge being located to engage and flex said wing means within said groove means, and said ridge having a sloping approach surface to guide said wing means onto said ridge.

l0. The socket assembly as deiined in claim 7 and wherein said second detent means comprises an inwardly extending projection integrally formed on each of said contact arms, the outer surface of said projection closest the central axis of said bore being curved outwardly away from the center axis of said bore toward the entrance to said socket to provide a curved approach surface to facilitate insertion of said bulb into said socket.

l1. The socket assembly as defined in claim 7 and having resilient tab means struck out from said contact element means between said Wing means and said resilient contact arms, and said contact element retaining means being operable within said groove means to displace said resilient tab means into frictional engagement with a side wall surface of said insulator socket body.

12. The socket assembly as defined in claim 7 and wherein each contact element means is formed from an integral plate having a channel shaped cross section and comprising: a central web portion extending transversely to and connecting parallelly extending side walls, said resilient contact arms being formed by additional wing means transversely outwardly bent relative to said parallel side walls, said additional wing means having curve: outer surfaces extending longitudinally of said bore and inwardly toward the central axis thereof to provide said second detent means, said first mentioned wing means being spaced longitudinally from said additional wing means and being formed by the outer end of said side walls being transversely bent, resilient tab means struck out from the central web portion between said first mentioned wing means and said additional wing means, portions of said parallel side walls between said first mentioned wing means and said additional wing means being reduced in cross sectional area to provide added resiliency to said additional wing means relative to said first mentioned wing means, and said contact element retaining means being operable within said groove means to displace said resilient tab means into frictional engagement with a side Wall surface of said insulator socket body.

13. A socket assembly for supporting and electrically contacting a light bulb having an integral support portion formed within inwardly extending grooves to which iilament contact wire means extend from within the support portion, and comprising: an insulator socket body having a bore extending therein, a pair of identically shaped contact elements for connecting said lilament contact wire means to an electrical source, groove means integrally formed in said socket body to retain and snpport said pair of contact elements Within said bore in spaced electrically insulated relationship, wing means formed on each of said contact elements and adapted to be received Within said groove means, Wedging means operable Within said groove means to lex said Wing means transversely of said groove means to secure said contact eiernents within said base, resilient Contact arms integrally forni-ed on each of said Contact elements and extending rorn said Wing means longitudinaily of said bore, said resilient Contact arms being spaced from one another and dening a bulb receiving socket having a normal opening srnai er than the integral support portion of said bulb and being resiliently movable outwardly to accommodate said integral support portion of said bulb therebetween, and. detent means formed on said resiiient contact said inwardly extending grooves to electrically contact said filament Contact means and secure said bulb within said bore.

14. The connector assembly as dened in claim 13 and wherein said detent means comprises an inwardly extending projection integrally formed on each of said contact arms and being receivable by and eooperable with` arms, the inner surface of said projection being curved to project within said inwardly extending grooves and provide a curved approach surface to facilitate insertion of saidbulb into said socket.

ReferencesCited inthe rile of thispatent- UNlTED STATES PATENTS 271,171 Weston 1an. 23, 1883 273,554 Lea Miart 6,l S83 2,505,979 Manin MayV 2, i950v 2,533,483 Losquadrov DeCS 12, 1950A 2,612,539 Dyer SSpt. 20, 1952 (82,633 Johnson June 22, 1954 2,741,747' Woofter -Apn 10, 1956 2,789,278 soreng Apr. 16, i957 2,882,511 14, 1959 Mason Apr. 

